Today we
are living in times of persecution. The persecution of Christians
in America officially began on April 20-1999,
(Littleton, Colorado massacre of Christian high school students )
There always will be persecution of Christians, Jews and the Righteous until our Lord returns at His Second Coming.
REVELATION 13:7

On April 20, 1999 thirteen
high school students were killed at Columbine
High School in Littleton, Colorado. They were honored by 1,000 OVERCOMERS from 28 states.Below are some excerpts from those who knew and loved the victims
of this persecution, plus words from the diary of Rachel Joy
Scott.

Following the Littleton, Colorado incident, are other instances
of persecution of Christians and Jews here in America, and
Scripture verses to sustain us all in this hour of temptation and
trial.
May this page of witness, testimony and the Word of God build us
up in our most precious faith till we see Him face to face.

Darrell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, cites "evolution" causing disrespect for lifeScott says if Columbine High School's
young killers had been taught the truth that they were made in
the image of God rather than the "survival of the
fittest" junk science they were taught in school classrooms,
the two teens might not have murdered his daughter and the other
victims.http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/10/282003a.asp

"It is my firm belief that God is sovereignly moving by His mighty
Spirit upon this generation of young people. I believe that we
are about to witness the greatest ingathering of souls ever
witnessed since the church was brought forth upon the earth.
The true heroes will be the young people, anointed by God, who
will overcome fear and intimidation and become bold beyond human
explanation........and some of them will spill their blood for
the cause of Christ.

Some will be hated by those who prefer their Christianity
"lukewarm" and despised by those who have compromised
the message of the gospel by accommodating the world's siren call
to materialism. God will do this, for it is His anointing that
will empower and give wisdom and inspired utterance to youthful
lips which will confound learned fools.

from Pastor Bruce........ 6-10-99:
" The counselors try to help us "get over it and move
on with our lives". Well I don't WANT to EVER 'get over'
this!
I want this incident to HOWL in my mind and heart, a constant
reminder of how broken this present world is, how desperately
people need a revelation of the love and grace of Christ! I
want to stay in a state of continual brokenhearted devotion to the high calling
of God, realizing that His good news is the world's ONLY hope!"He
(Jesus) ....is our ONLY hope for gaining freedom from our
depravity."
( Jeremiah 17:9...Ecclesiastes 9:3 )
Pastor Bruce Porter's letters
TorchGrab
see letter 1...letter 2...letter 3...letter 4

The
following is from Rachel's Diary, penned 1 year earlier to the
day...April 20, 1998
(having experienced aloofness from friends)

"But you know what?...I am not going to apologize for
speaking the name of Jesus;
I am not going to justify my faith to them,
and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me.
If I have to sacrifice everything, I will. I will take it. If my
friends have to become my enemies for me to be with my best
friend Jesus, then that's fine with me."

"Ya know, I always knew that part of being a Christian is
having enemies....
but I never thought that my "friends" were going to be
those enemies."

CASSIE
BERNALL"Now I have given up on everything else--
I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ
and to experience the mighty power that brought Him back to life
again
and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with Him.
So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh
newness of life
of those who are alive from the dead."
Cassie Bernall, martyred April 20, 1999 at schoolThe Answer Heard Round the World
The Pastor officiating at the funeral service said,
"Jesus fed the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes.
He gave Cassie Bernall the privilege of feeding the whole world
with one word."
Her one word was "YES!" in response to "Do you
believe in God?"
Cassie, Rachel Scott and many of the others also answered in the
affirmative, and died as martyrs.
Their answer was heard round the world.Isaiah
11:6 "and a.... child shall lead them"Center
for Religious Freedom on Campus A
high-profile defender of student and academic liberty has created
a center to dealsolely with protecting religious freedom at
the nation's colleges and universities.
Since opening its doors nearly two years ago, the Foundation for
Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) in Philadelphia has been
inundated with requests to help students and leaders of campus
organizations embroiled in conflicts with administrators over
freedom of religion and association, said FIRE officials.
FIRE's new Center for
Religious Freedom on Campus
will serve as an online, print and in-person resource, and will
provide a hot line as well as a network of lawyers to battle the
climate of "selective repression" that pervades modern
higher education, said FIRE's Executive Director Thor L.
Halvorssen. http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010821-32800976.htm

PERSECUTION
also broke out in FORT WORTH, TEXAS
On September 15th, 1999 worshippers were shot to death while
praying at church.
Pastor Meredith's Church near Fort Worth, TexasPastor A. Meredith of Wedgwood Baptist Church (Fort Worth, TX) is
calling our nation to prayer for our young people and all
Christians.
Please pray that our nation wakes up to the spiritual dangers
that lie ahead, and that Christians especially seek the face of
the Lord at this time for guidance and renewal.

Pastor Meredith has suggested this verse as our banner:
"Arise, cry out in the night:
in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water
before the face of the Lord;
lift up thy hands toward Him,
for the life of thy young children,
that faint for hunger [ hunger for Godliness and righteousness ]
in the top of every street " [ at the daily crossroads of
life ]Lamentations 2:19May
God strengthen us all for the days ahead. We ask this in the
Blessed Name of Jesus Christ,
and by the power of His blood. Amen

We pray for all those who have suffered from like tragedies:
Peducah,Kentucky;
Littleton, Colorado;
Chicago 4th of July weekend (Afro-American + anti-semitic
prejudice 1999),
California Jewish Community Center, August 10, 1999 also
anti-semitic;
FAMU bombings, fall of 99; and now this, Fort Worth (Sept. 15,
1999)
Lord Jesus, may you protect all those who call upon your Name,
whether we live or die.
"This know also, that in the Last Days perilous times shall
come ...men shall be fierce...despisers
of those who are good;Evil men... shall wax worse and worse."
Yea, and ALL that will live Godly in Christ Jesus
SHALL SUFFER PERSECUTION"2
Timothy 3
CARE = PRAYERGod answers knee-mail

We also
pray for the release of Lori Berenson
in Peru and Jonathan Pollard
here in the US. Father you know that all these people are
innocent.
Please deliver Jeremy Cohen
from China's false imprisonment.

Revelation 13:7

The
American Inquisition has Begun -- Chuck Baldwin The point that all Americans must
understand is that Chief Justice Roy Moore was removed from the
bench, not for committing any crime, not forparticipating
in unethical conduct, and not even for posting the TenCommandments
in the Alabama Judicial Building. He was
removed from officefor acknowledging
God!

Americans must understand that people
such as judge Myron Thompson andAlabama Attorney General
Bill Pryor actually believe that the publicacknowledgement
of God is illegal activity. Even more dangerous, theybelieve
that a federal judge's order, not the U.S. Constitution, is thesupreme
law of the land. Pryor said as much during
the trial.

Persecution of Christians Increasing --- Tom Horn According to some experts a pattern is emerging
reminiscent of Jewish persecution in post war Germany.
"Isolation of, and discrimination against Christians is
growing almost geometrically" says Don McAlvany
in The Midnight Herald. "This is the way it
started in Germany against the Jews. As they became more isolated
and marginalized by the Nazi propaganda machine, as popular
hatred and prejudice against the Jews increased among the German
people, wholesale persecution followed. Could this
be where the growing anti-Christian consensus in America is
taking us?" http://www.worthynews.com/christian-persecution.html

"In
God I Trust" by CJ Roy MooreWe must acknowledge God in the public sector
because the state constitution explicitly requires us to do so.
The Alabama Constitution specifically invokes "the favor and
guidance of Almighty God" as the basis for our laws and
justice system. As the chief justice of the state's supreme court
I am entrusted with the sacred duty to uphold the state's
constitution. I have taken an oath before God and man to do such,
and I will not waver from that commitment. http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110003926

Bible
outlawed in public square , Houston Texas http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34285Tyranny
in Black Robes ( Federal Judges
) please see Psalm 82That same year, Phyllis Schlafly warned: "The
federal judges appointed by Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are the
biggest threat to constitutional self-government today. These
activist judges have been writing liberal opinions into the law,
usurping legislative functions, and depriving Americans of our
rights of self-government."

Since then the record has been replete with cases of
federal judges trampling over the rights of citizens, and not all
of them were Clinton or Carter appointees. One example: the
notorious 9th Circuit, where judges ruled that reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance is prohibited because it contains the words
"Under God."http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/10/1/123247.shtml

Articles
and SCRIPTURE verses for strength in these Last Days"
The Surrendered Life " by David Wilkerson

Ephesians 6: 10....Finally, my brethren, be strong in the
Lord,
and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,(demonic
forces)
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places."

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may
be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand."

2
Corinthians 10:4...."For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling
down of strong holds"

Putting on the Whole Armor by Berit Kjoswww.crossroad.to/text/articles/armorofgod.html"FEAR
NONE OF THOSE THINGS WHICH THOU SHALT SUFFER"
Rev. 2:10Will our "trusted" friends betray us ? Or worse yet,
will we be scandalized (take offense)
at the name of Jesus Christ, and deny any affiliation with Him
because of the coming persecution? Don't allow yourself to be intimidated."
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me"
Philippians 4:13

Tyndale Seminary (Fort Worth) forced to pay $ 173,000 fine AUSTINAn Austin appeals court ruled Thursday
that Tyndale Theological Seminary in Fort Worth must pay a fine
of $173,000 for issuing degrees without state authority to so
do.
The 3rd Court of Appeals said the seminary, operated by HEB
Ministries, must pay the fine imposed in 1998 by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board.
The amount includes penalties for issuing 34 degrees plus the
appeals court's reinstatement of a $3,000 penalty
because the institution uses the word "seminary" in its
name.
By restricting degree-granting powers of post-secondary
institutions and restricting the use of academic terms in the
names of institutions, the Texas Legislature has assured that
those institutions meet basic educational standards, the court
wrote.The court rejected Tyndale's argument that the
state's actions violate freedom of religion."This is an outrageous decision. The state
has now been given control of all seminaries across the state and
can now dictate the education of the pastors and their
churches," said Kelly Shackelford, chief
counsel for Liberty Legal Institute, which filed the lawsuit on
behalf Tyndale.
The Hispanic Bible Institute in San Antonio and the Southern
Bible Institute in Dallas joined the lawsuit.http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/6382020.htm

MORE ON PERSECUTIONThe New Persecuted, Inquiries into
Anti-Christian Intolerance in the New Century of Martyrs,
Christians most persecuted in 20th Century.....Socci's Book of
Modern MartyrsThe author, Antonio Socci, claims the untold
story of the 20th century is the murder of 45
million Christians, mostly at the hands of communist and Islamic regimes, and that
massacres continue to this day.Some reviewers have hailed the publication as a
wake-up call to Christians in the west who have not realised,
even in the wake of September 11, that they are under attack by a
hostile rival religion. Drawing heavily from the World Christian
Encyclopedia, published last year by the Oxford University Press,
Mr Socci traces the persecution of Christians through the
centuries, from the crucifixion of Jesus to the lions at Circus
Maximus, the assassination of Thomas Becket and the execution of
Thomas More, the Boxer rebellion in China, Mexico's revolution
and the Turkish massacres in Armenia. He calculates that in the
past 2,000 years some 70 million Christians have been killed,
two-thirds in the past 100 years alone, a bloodbath blamed mostly
on the Soviet Union as well as communist China and Nazi Germany. Mr Socci, 43, a columnist with conservative
Italian newspapers, claims that an average of 160,000
Christians have been killed every year since 1990, the vast
majority in the third world. Chronicling attacks, pogroms and wars in East
Timor, Indonesia, Sudan, Egypt, Pakistan, India, and even Rwanda
and Latin America, Mr Socci identifies Islamic extremism as the
main danger. http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,727149,00.htmlBe
Not Afraid ....Martyrdom and Crownshopetotheend.com/benot.htmlMartyrdom
by Tom Stewartwww.whatsaiththescripture.com/Prophecy/Prophecy.MSpiritual Warfare (not political nor military)
"Onward Christian Soldiers"
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/n/onwardcs.htm

ARTICLES

"For Thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter....
Nay, in all these things WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS
through Him that loved us." Romans 8: 36, 37

"For I am persuaded, that neither DEATH, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 38, 39
CASTING
OUT DEMONSwww.thebiblespeaks.com/Miracles/demons.htm
Tagged Students defy Big Brother (Louisiana)
Reject being forced to wear Social Security numbers
by David Bresnahanhttp://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=13095

It's not about gun-control....
It's about HEART-CONTROL (Ezekiel 36:26)

MORE
ARTICLESBe Strong and of Good Couragewww.heraldmag.org/literature/chliv_17.htm"He
that overcomes, I will grant to sit with Me in My throne."
Rev. 3:21
Please
see 2 Tim. 1:15 and 2 Tim. 4:16,17....penned
by the Apostle Paul just before martyrdom.

"And
it was given unto him ( antiChrist, anti-Messiah, the
Beast)
to make war with the saints, and to overcome them:
and power was given him over ALL";
"He that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity.
He that killeth with the sword
must be killed with the sword
Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." Rev.
13

INDIA : Hindu persecution of ChristiansMissionaries
burned to death in car (Graham Stains)A missionary and his two sons aged eight
and ten were burnt alive when miscreants set their vehicle afire
at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district early on Saturday
morning.
Official sources said Graham Stewart Stains, an Australia-born
missionary who was secretary-cum-treasurer of the Evangelical
Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj, and his sons Philip and Timothy
were sleeping in a station wagon when a mob shouting slogans
doused it with petrol and set it afire.Manoharpur itself has a high population
of converts to Christianity, which is reportedly resented by the
tribal Hindus. Just a few months ago, Bajrang Dal activists had
attacked trucks of cattle owned by Muslims. www.rediff.com/news/1999/jan/23oris.htm

Will this eventually happen in America too ?France
cracks down on Biblical ChristianityIn my opinion, the goal of this law
is the completion of the French Revolution-- the
eradication of religion in thelife
of the public in France and the opening of the door for a purely
secular society," says Joel Thorton, of
the European Center for Law and Justice based in Strasbourg,
France.
The ECLJ is the international arm of the Virginia-based American
Center for Law and Justice.....

There is no doubt that in
the last 10 years, France has become increasingly hostile
to the Gospel and we have had to adapt
ourselves to a changing society, a society
that has little respect for the Bible and
Christian moral values," notes Easterman......

If we want to have
children's church, Sunday school, that can be seen as influencing
minors," he adds.
"If we do work for old people, its preying on
vulnerable.
If we what to have a time of prayer and fasting -- its seen as
deprivation of food and sleep."

"Authorities in Belgium have closed down a Christian school
and deported some its American workers. The action has
spawned fears that the Belgian government might try to rid the
country ofits missionaries. The ministries are affiliated
with the Assemblies of God - a group that has been labeled a cult
by the Belgian government."http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/news/020225c.asp

The
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says that
religious persecution worsened in China last year. In its annual
report to the White House and Congress last month, the bipartisan
commission accused China of "egregious violations of
religious freedom," torturing believers, interfering in the
selection of religious leaders, and destroying up to 3,000
unregistered religious buildings.

But Chinese Christians face a host of government-imposed
restrictions, ranging from a ban on evangelizing to strict
criteria for new church construction. And those believers who
reject the authorized churches as tools of the Communist
government  and instead meet secretly in "house
churches"  face far worse.

The Chinese government aggressively persecutes these
"underground Christians" and destroys their
unregistered churches, according to international human-rights
organizations and church leaders and believers. Scores, and maybe
hundreds, of Christians are in jail or labor camps for pursuing
religious activities outside China's government-approved
churches, say Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Last month, Chinese authorities arrested a 79-year-old
underground Roman Catholic bishop and several priests and lay
Catholics just before Easter celebrations.

House churches are forbidden because they could promote the
spread of cults by allowing "untrained" leaders to lead
services, Chinese officials say. "They are cults," Mr.
Zhang said. "They are evil. They are not based on formal,
professional religious beliefs. This activity disturbs security
and stability.
A lot of illegal activity in the guise of religious practice are
held in houses."

At
the same time, Chinese officials deny that the government
systematically arrests underground Christians simply for their
beliefs. http://www.dallasnews.com/world/372246_chinapray_20in.htmlChina
executing hundreds with impunity
ever since they know they will be accepted into the World Trade
Org.
(also became hosts of Olympic Games)
In the end, money takes precedence over Human Rights

BEIJING
(July 6, 2001 10:11 a.m. EDT) - China executed more people in the
last three months than the rest of the world did in the past
three years, putting 1,781 people to death in a massive
government crackdown on crime, Amnesty International said Friday.
"The potential for miscarriages of justice, arbitrary
sentencing and the execution of innocent people is immense,"
the group said. Most executions take place after sentencing
rallies in front of massive crowdsin
sports stadiums and public squares, it said.http://www.nandotimes.com/world/story/38500p-618784c.html

Noxious
gas sprayed on Christians in North VietnamPolice used noxious gas recently to break up a worship
gathering attended by 40 Hmong Christians in the Dien Bien Dong
district. According to Assist News Service (ANS), the attack took
place Dec. 29.
"Police discovered the meeting, so they came to stop the
meeting by spraying noxious gas to these Christians," a
source told ANS. "Now 20 Christians are in hospital, five of
...[are]...not able to recover...The Dien Bien hospital where
these Christians were hospitalized is under the blockade of Dien
Bien Police."

Meanwhile, Hmong listeners
to Far East Broadcasting's (FEB) gospel radio programs have told
about the severe persecution that they are experiencing. "At
this time, we don't know why our government has sent soldiers and
policemen to guard all of the Christian villages," one
listener said in a tape sent to FEB. "It seems as if we are
criminals or are preparing to do something against the
government! They watch every one of us very closely. We cannot
hold church meetings any more.
"These officials have also come to check every Christian
home and check for bibles, hymnbooks and other literature,"
the listener added. "If they find anything, it will be
burned. If homes are not found with evil spirit signs, that
household will be penalized."http://www.charismanews.com/online/articledisplay.pl?ArticleID=7097